“Get Down You Fool” Battleground to Community - Washington D.C.
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 38° 57.821 W 077° 01.737
18S E 324212 N 4314704
Hearing those words, President Abraham Lincoln ducked down from the Fort Stevens parapet during the Civil War battle that stopped the Confederates from taking Washington.
Waymark Code: WM16PVA
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 09/12/2022
Views: 1
“Get Down You Fool” Battleground to Community--Hearing those words, President Abraham Lincoln ducked down from the Fort Stevens parapet during the Civil War battle that stopped the Confederates from taking Washington.
On July 9, 1864, some 15,000 Rebels led by General Jubal A. Early defeated Union forces at the Battle of Monocacy near Frederick, Maryland. Early's troops, suffering from the battle and the summer heat, then turned south to march on the lightly defended capital city. But the Monocacy encounter and skirmishes along the Rockville Turnpike gave the Union time to regroup. On the 12th, the Union's fresh troops challenged the Rebels in a fierce but brief fight. Early's forces retreated to Virginia. The only Civil War battle fought in the District of Columbia was over.
President and Mrs. Lincoln both witnessed the afternoon battle. Eyewitness Captain Elijah Hunt Rhodes of Rhode Island recorded the scene: "....[O]n the parapet I saw President Lincoln standing looking at the troops. Mrs. Lincoln and other ladies were sitting in a carriage behind the earthworks. We marched...into a peach orchard in front of Fort Stevens and here the fight began. For a short time it was a warm work, but as the President and many ladies were looking at us, every man tried to do his best....the rebels broke and fled....A surgeon standing on the fort beside President Lincoln was wounded."
"Early should have attacked early in the morning."
Abraham Lincoln is the only serving U.S. president to have come under enemy fire.
LOCATION: Marker is in Brightwood in Washington, District of Columbia. Marker is on Quackenbos Street Northwest east of 13th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west. Marker is on Quakenbros Street, west of Georgia Avenue (U.S. Rte 29), just east of 13th Street, NW, and across the street from Fort Stevens. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6001 13th Street Northwest, Washington DC 20011, United States of America.
Group that erected the marker: Cultural Tourism DC
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
6001 13th Street Northwest
Washington, DC United States
20011
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Visit Instructions:
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